Need
by LittleMissMorbid
Summary: ."He can't sleep without dreaming of her." Inspired by a special little Drake and Josh episode. Implied Dasey


"Face it, McDonald," Derek says between angered breaths, "You _need _me! Why else would you interfere so goddamn much in my life!"

Casey's snarly quickly morphs into one of coolness. "I don't _need _you, _Venturi_. I've never needed you. Without me in your life you'd have no one to belittle, no one to prank, no one to _hate._"

There was a silence as carbon dioxide was expelled, and oxygen taken in.

"I'm done with you, Derek."

With that final word uttered, she whipped around and slammed her bedroom door in his face.

"Fine with me, Princess!" Derek called, storming off into his own space and slamming the door hard enough to make the walls quake.

Alone in his room, Derek plops down on his bed and wonders why his stomach has turned queasy. He could ignore Casey. It's not like they had heart-to-hearts anyway.

Stupid Casey. It's not his fault her precious Truman tripped and fell. Anyone could have tripped over his shoe like that.

Okay, so the guy broke his nose. So what? He was gonna live.

And maybe he kindasorta stuck his foot out on purpose.

But Derek's done this shit before, and Casey's always gotten over it.

She'd forget all about her recent pact in a week and beg him to babysit or cover her night for the dishes. Typical caught-up Casey.

It was just terms. Words.

Nothing was gonna change.

Really.

o-o-o

"Morning, mom," Casey says cheerfully, as she flips over the bacon in the pan, "I made breakfast."

"Well, this is nice." She says, taking a seat at the table and sipping from the coffee mug.

When Derek smells the bacon, he runs down the stairs. And sure enough, in all its glory, it lays piled high on a plate.

"Thanks Nora," Derek says, shoving his mouth full of pork.

"Don't thank me. Thank Casey."

Derek puts a pause on his gluttony for a moment, and looks at her. She doesn't bother meeting his gaze.

"Thanks, Spacey."

"You're welcome, Derek." She says this calmly, cutting her pancakes into small pieces. Casey was one of those odd people that ate pancakes plain. He'd never understood that about her. Well, he didn't understand a lot of things about her.

She makes small talk. Chats about the weather, about school, about Emily.

But no matter how many disparaging remarks he makes, she doesn't even look at him.

o-o-o

At first Derek kind of enjoyed Casey's non-role in his life. He got the TV all to himself, turned on the music loud without getting one word from his usual pain in the ass.

He makes remarks about girls, about life in general, really, without having to listen to her incessant lecturing.

It's sort of like living the bachelor life all over again, except better because he still gets the good food.

He even gets to drive himself to school. He leaves whenever he wants, gets home whenever he wants.

Skipping school has never been so easy.

And Casey just takes the bus without complaining about the four block walk in the rain, or mud, or whatever unfortunate weather she has to encounter that day.

Casey is still annoying brainiac Casey in class, but she doesn't comment on his arriving fashionably late or failing two big tests.

Life without Casey McDonald is _sweet. _

o-o-o

He sees Casey flirting with one of the poetry nerds at her locker (she's so predictable, really—how many women do the hair flip?).

"Hey," Derek says, clamping a hand on the skinny guy's shoulder, "Date someone who'll make you a little bit more popular. 'Cause she's just gonna drag you down, man."

"Uh." Nerd Guy mumbles eloquently.

Casey just flashes him a too-white smile and says, "Feel free to email me for help, okay?"

And then she just walks away.

Derek runs up to her. "Case, come on, you can't just ignore me your whole life. We live together!"

"I'm not ignoring you, Derek," She says, staring straight in his eyes, "I already told you."

"Told me what?"

"I'm done."

He doesn't follow her when she leaves him behind.

o-o-o

Now, Derek by all means is not a desperate man. He's never had to be. Most things come easily to him. Except this weird rash on his back that he _absolutely _cannot reach without the aid of a broom handle.

Anyway, there's a way out of this mess.

Wait, life without Casey is a dream. Not a mess.

Shut up brain, Derek thinks, I've done quite well without you.

I just need…food! Yeah, food, and sleep.

A good protein-rich sandwich and a nap is all I need.

o-o-o

He has to drag himself to school.

"You look terrible, dude." Sam says, slapping him on the back.

Derek winces. "I got hit by a bike."

"A bike? How did you—"

"_I don't know!" _Derek snaps, and storms away.

He's an absolute mess. He really is. Tuesday the Prince stopped working and he had to walk to school because he was already late. Wednesday he realized his laundry hadn't been brought down for the wash and he was effectively out of clean clothes. And then today, Thursday, he happens to be walking within a pedestrian zone and some jackass literally runs him over.

Casey, on the other hand, is doing _just _fine. She's been making friends. And got asked out seven times in one day! Who gets asked out that much?

Except him, of course.

Somewhere between first and second period, after sustaining injury from a wayward soccerball in the hall, two detentions, and numerous comments on his appearance, Derek realized Casey's swapped places with him.

He hasn't been able to sleep without dreaming of her.

It's a little sick, really, how obsessed he is with her, watching her from afar at lunch while Sam and Ralph make fun of the odd bruise on his forehead.

Casey needs to talk to him. He needs to argue with her, piss her off, push and pull with her on a daily basis.

He doesn't know what to do with this excess energy.

What did he do without Casey?

He can't remember.

o-o-o

She's coming out of fifth right now. And he grabs her arm, takes her outside, holds her in place while he tries to get his thoughts together.

"Casey…"

Cue raised eyebrow.

"Talk to me! Tell me I'm an idiot, or…or…a pig, or insult my intelligence, tell me I'm a jackass that needs to grow up, just say _something!" _

Casey just looks at him.

"This last week," he says, in a tilted whisper, "has been hell. And…and…I need you to fix it, Casey."

"First of all, calling you an idiot and then insulting your intelligence is redundant." Casey says, looking out at the parking lot.

"Second of all, I don't need to fix anything, because I didn't _break _anything."

Derek points a finger in her face. "Yes…! Yes, you did!"

Casey crosses her arms.

"You…" he began, drawing out the final syllable of the word, "You stopped being Casey and you broke our push-and-pull thing. And…and…it's just not right, Casey. We're supposed to argue and..and…tell each other we hate the other."

"I never told you I hated you. I don't hate you, Derek."

He clears his throat. "I was wrong, Casey. I need you more than you need me. I need you to yell at me when I miss class, I need you to do all of your annoying Casey things because it's not the same without you."

She looks at him, eyes half lidded, lips pursed shut. "Yeah?"

He lets out a breathy chuckle. "Yeah, Case."

"I guess I kinda missed you too," she says, a small smile growing on her face.

They head back into the school side-by-side, entering their classroom.

She sits in front of him. Halfway through the lesson, he pokes her with his pencil.

"_De-rek!" _


End file.
